The Yankees desperately needed a No. 2-type starter to put behind their ace, Luis Severino, and they got him in this trade. Though they won more than 100 games last season, the Yankees' top starters did not match up well with the other elite American League teams in the postseason. The Red Sox (Chris Sale and David Price), the Astros (Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole) and the Indians (Corey Kluber and Carlos Carrasco) all had an advantage over New York, especially in terms of their Game 2 starters. This deal alleviates that issue.

Paxton has been plagued by injuries throughout his career, and has never started 30 games or pitched 180 innings in a single season. However, when one takes a deeper look at the injuries, they have included a strained lat muscle, strained middle finger tendon, forearm strain or contusion and a back injury. He has never had shoulder or elbow problems, and none of his injuries have ever been recurring. The other important thing to note is that he does not have a lot of innings on his odometer, which could be a real positive sign going forward.

The Yankees will control Paxton for two more seasons, and if he can handle pitching in New York the way I think he can, I won't be surprised if the team signs him to a longer-term contract next offseason.